A preliminary hearing, essentially a dress rehearsal for trial,
included graphic details never before revealed to the public. The
hearing ended on Wednesday. The court said there would be a status
hearing or an arraignment on Friday morning at 9 a.m.

On Wednesday, a detective testified and showed many photos of Holmes'
car outside of the theater, including photos taken on his personal
cellphone. The prosecution said they had "an abundance of direct
evidence" against Holmes, and claimed Holmes "wanted to kill all of
them," and that "he knew what he was doing."

PHOTOS OF THE THEATER TAKEN BEFORE THE SHOOTING

On Holmes' phone, police found four pictures of the inside and the
outside of the theater prior to the shooting. The first photo showed the
double doors of the theater as well as the carpet inside of the movie
theater. It was taken on June 29 at 4:20 p.m. The second photo
highlighted the door jamb of the interior door of the theater. That
photo was taken on June 29 at 4:21 p.m. The third photo showed the
sidewalk and the purple emergency exit doors of the theater, which was
taken on July 5 at 11:30 p.m. The last photo showed an exterior door,
the double purple doors and was taken on July 11 at 12:28 a.m.

The prosecution was going to show a set of eight more photos, but the
defense objected, saying they contradicted their presentation. The
prosecution argued "the following set of photos go to identify
deliberation and extreme indifference." The judge overruled them and
allowed the photos to be observed by the court.

On Wednesday, the defense waived their presentation of any witnesses.
They said they have considered the courts' remarks and have changed
their position. They do not think the preliminary hearing is the time or
the place to present a truncated defense on his "mental state." They
said they have no evidence to present during the preliminary hearing.

The first photo showed Holmes donning red hair, a ballistic gear,
tactical equipment, holding an assault rifle and was striking a pose.
The photo was taken on July 5 at 4:12 p.m. - more than two weeks before
the shooting.

The second photo was a photo of the countertop and a microwave with a
mason jar filled with liquid, wires on the outside and a bowl of black
powder in his apartment. Police later identified as smokeless powder. It
was taken on July 16 at 8:26 p.m.

The third photo showed his apartment living room table. On the table,
wires, paint canisters, bottles and nine black spheres with yellow
cording could be seen. The black spheres were later identified by police
as explosive devices. This photo was taken on July 16 at 8:27 p.m.

The next four photos were self portraits of Holmes. In the first one,
he had his tongue sticking out, and he was wearing a black cap on his
head. His red, curly hair was sticking out of the bottom of the hat. His
eyes had black contacts in them. The photo was taken on July 19 at 6:22
p.m. - just hours before the shooting allegedly took place.

The second portrait photo showed him looking the same as the first,
but with a big, cheesy smile on and holding a semi-automatic gun in
front of the lens. That was taken just three minutes after the first
one.

Thirdly, the other self-portrait photo showed Holmes without the hat.
That photo showed him holding one of the explosive devices in front of
his face while he puckered his lips. He took that photo on July 19 at
6:31 p.m.

The last self portrait showed him on the right of the photo and in
the background to the left, the initiation system which was set to
self-detonate in his apartment could be seen. That was taken on July 19
at 6:40 p.m.

The last photo on his cellphone was of his bed - taken on July 19 at
5:17 p.m. On the bed are various items which were recovered in the movie
theater the day of the shooting, such as a a tactical vest, some
magazines for 223 rifle, a Glock magazine, a gas mask, a ballistic
leggings, a ballistic jacket, a ballistic helmet, an assault rifle with
scope, a 870 pump-action shotgun, a tactical satchel and a carry bag.

At that point, the prosecution said they were done presenting evidence.

Tom Teves, father of Alex Teves, said he is convinced that the
defendant is taking great pleasure in not only his notoriety but his
infamy.

"I watched him intently [during the hearing], and I watched him smile
every time a weapon was discussed, every time they talked about his
apartment," he said on Wednesday. "We have to accept the fact that there
are evil people in our society who enjoy killing, but that doesn't make
[the defendant] crazy."

"This is a man who doesn't like people, he doesn't think of them as human beings," he added.

His wife, Caren Teves, said she too saw the defendant smirk on a number of occasions.

"I could see his face. I could see his eyes. I could see his expression.
He was delighted to see himself on the screen," she said.

Yousef Gharbi still has a bullet in his head. The 17-year old said he
left Wednesday's hearing still unable to fathom why this happened in the
first place.

"That's the question that sits on my chest, at the very top. Why did he do it?" he said.

Yet Gharbi remains convinced this was a heavily planned out attack.

"He constructed a plan to take lives. That's what he wanted to do. This
was a thought out plan. He knew it was going to be big," Gharbi said.

Witnesses also detailed the scope of the investigation and Holmes' arrest.

PRELIMINARY HEARING DAY 1

Monday marked the first day of the preliminary hearing. A couple of
the officers who took the stand on Monday got quite emotional, often
holding back tears as they described a chaotic scene with bloody victims
and a parking lot so packed that ambulances could not get access.

Appel clarified Holmes purchased his ticket to the showing on July 7,
not July 8 as was previously mentioned in Monday's testimony.